(Corrects to 'cut', not 'hike' in 3rd paragraph)

TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said he was watching currency moves closely, repeating that Tokyo is "fully prepared" to act after the dollar surged to a fresh 34-year high against the yen in Asia on Monday.

The dollar hovered around 153.68 yen after strengthening to as high as 153.74.

Fading expectations of a near-term U.S. interest rate cut have accelerated the dollar's ascent as markets focused on the starkly wide U.S.-Japan yield gap.

The yen's slide against the dollar has brought intervention fears back as authorities in Tokyo have repeatedly warned over recent weeks that they would not rule out any steps to deal with excessive swings.

Japan last intervened in the currency market in 2022, first in September and again in October, to prop up the yen. (Reporting by Kentaro Sugiyama, Writing by Satoshi Sugiyama Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Shri Navaratnam)